One of the main reasons why Parasite was such a massive success around the whole world in 2019 is because of its themes and messages of classism and the wealth divide, which are truly universal. Grabbing the knife Geun-se wielded, Ki-taek stabs Mr. Park and runs away. These themes cross all cultural-barriers and can speak to the 99% anywhere in the world. The Kims return to find that their apartment has flooded with sewage water and try to rescue whatever valuables they can, including the fortune rock gifted to Ki-woo. This paper aims to study the gap between the rich and poor reflected in movie Parasite. Its evident that the Kim family lives in squalor. Down in the basement is Geun-sae, Moon-gwang's husband, who is hiding from loan sharks there. Find out how you match to her and 5500+ other characters. Moon-kwang eventually succumbs to a concussion, leading to her husband desperately smashing his head into the light switches in the bunker to signal Help me in Morse code. He works as a list writer for Valnet, Inc. covering Screen Rant. Ki-taek, who is hiding under the table, hears Mr. Park discuss his unsavory smell. The film constantly threatens to come apartto take one convoluted turn too many in ways that sink the projectbut Bong holds it all together, and the result is breathtaking. account. Not only does he have to create suspicion about her, but he has to then convince Yeon-gyo to dispose of Moon-gwang without actually advocating for it. Guen-sae may not be the brightest of the bunch, but he's not entirely an idiot either. Moon-Gwangs return to the house and eventual reveal of the secret basement keeps us on the edges of our seats as viewers and seamlessly blends from the drama/comedy centered first half into the thriller/tragedy centered latter half. Alongside actor Choi Woo-sik, he explains the significance of production design elements from the beginning of the film, such as the cultural context of scholars stones in South Korea and the idea of distant hope conveyed by the semi-basement window. Please enable Javascript and hit the button below! Mr Kim is even needlessly proud when he discovers his childrens deceptive skills. The second half of Parasite is one of the most daring things Ive seen in years narratively. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. Moon-kwang reveals that a large cabinet in the basement is actually hiding the entrance to a secret underground bunker, where her husband (Park Myung-hoon) had been living in secret the past few years. The films social commentary on class is at its strongest in this depiction of the lower classes fighting against each other rather than against the 1% who truly hold more accountability. Staircases are among the many things in Parasite that could be considered metaphorical, as becomes a refrain of the Kims son, Ki-woo (Choi Woo Shik). Parasite director Bong Joon-hos insightful and engaging comedy/thriller became one of the most talked-about films of the year and set a new precedent for the mark a South Korean movie can leave on United States movie-going audiences. However, if I had to pinpoint one member who would be the eponymous parasite, it would have to be Mr Kim. Josh Weber is a cinephile and avid reader based in the eastern shore of Maryland. The neighbourhood fumigator arrives, and Mr Kim instructs his family to leave the windows open to enjoy a free fumigation for his house. For some Parasite movie analysis straight from the auteur himself, check out this scene breakdown from Bong Joon-ho. On to the in-depth analysis! Mr Kim is eventually condemned to live and hide in the bunker, truly fulfilling the parasite-like behaviour of leeching of its host at someone elses expense. GradeSaver "Parasite Characters". When Moon-gwang tries to ascend the stairs and reveal herself, Chung-sook kicks her down, concussing and killing her. Wealth has rendered her completely helpless, and she often spends her days napping on the couch or purchasing items for the house. Bong Joon-ho displays a mastery over genres and tones with this mid-point shift. For example, Mr Park making callous comments at the expense of the Kim family which eventually lead to him getting stabbed, Mr Park pressuring Mr Kim to make a fool of himself at Da-songs birthday party with the threat of money, and the Parks only concerning themselves with Da-songs seizure despite the fact that Ki-jeong, someone who works for the Park family, had been stabbed at the birthday party. That he also manages to go into hiding in the Park's basement as did Geun-sae is pretty impressive given all the people that had to be going in and out of the house. The crimes of the Kim family are evident they are scammers, inserting themselves into the lives of the Parks to take advantage of their wealth. Ki-woo cant seem to let go of the decorative rock, a symbol of his constant yearning for stability. They take the affluent home as their own while the Parks are away and thats when Moon-gwang shows back up and everything changes. I have so much to say about this film that I was practically overflowing with thoughts for a good 24 hours after watching it. Thats all I can say without giving away major spoilers! If he is ever caught, he may suffer the death penalty for committing a murder. Its a conversation starter in ways we only get a few times a year, and further reminder that Bong Joon-ho is one of the best filmmakers working today. They fold pizza boxes for a delivery company to make some cash, steal wi-fi from the coffee shop nearby, and leave the windows open when the neighborhood is being fumigated to deal with their own infestation. Parasite is Bong Joon Ho's newest flick, and it's dark, twisted, and totally fascinating. However, she makes a grave mistake by letting Moon-gwang back into the Park family home, thereby unleashing a Pandora's box she can't close. characters are most like you. Parasite director Bong Joon-ho became the first South Korean filmmaker to win best director at the academy awards. Ki-woo is the son of the Kim family, a smart and ambitious young man who feels held back by poverty. When folding the pizza boxes during the fumigation, he is the most determined (cockroach-like behaviour, as explained above) but also the most careless with his actions. Review: Class warfare is on full display in director Bong Joon-hos provocative Parasite. Grew up in a middle-class home that was neither poor nor terribly wealthy. His decision to kill Mr. Park at the end is a shocking and perhaps poor one, but not entirely unjustified. Director Bong even uses a wider aspect ratio of 2.35:1 to not only capture a large family group in a single frame, it also gives the viewer the impression of wide spaces that dont allow for hiding spots. Living in a small, musty semi-basement in the slums of Seoul, South Korea. Parasite Character Analysis (Avoiding Spoilers) Grew up. Equally impressive was Parasite becoming the first South Korean movie to win the Palme dOr, which is the top prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. A graduate of Brigham Young University's English program, he can be found re-watching HALT AND CATCH FIRE when he's not elbow deep trying to stay caught up on the latest movies and TV shows. The series of events that unfold are so atypical and subtly interconnected that its only after the film that you would start to recall the small hints of foreshadowing or plot lines set up earlier on in the film. Thats all for my in-depth analysis! He is a violent and desperate man, and ends up going on a killing spree after the Kims kill his wife, Moon-gwang. Each character inParasiteis unique, but they definitely differ in levels of intelligence. The first half of Parasite plays out largely as a comedy-drama with a compelling narrative and thought-provoking themes. The Parks suddenly call, informing Mrs Kim that they would be arriving home in 8 minutes. The musty smell follows Ki-Jung wherever she visits, revealing her poverty. Through the analysis of the audio-visual language of the movie, this article starts with the storytelling of Parasite, enumerates and analyses the elements that appear in the movie to reflect the gap between the rich and poor. Please go catch the movie in the cinema before it ends its run. Small things, such as the Kim family opening their windows as their neighbourhood is fumigated in order to rid their own apartment of pests, or drunkards that liked to piss on their basement windows at night, were double-edged jokes that combined absurdist humour with sly details of the familys desperation and socio-economic plight. However, to qualify for the job, Ki-Woo must forge his identity from a man in his mid-20s with no formal education to a student studying business at an elite university. With Ki-jeong dead, Ki-woo, recovering from brain damage, obsessively returns to observe the house from afar. Not just because the film went full circle with Mr Kim hiding out in the bunker, forever condemned to hide and steal from the houses occupants, but also due to the small hints dropped throughout the film: Its also difficult to identify the main antagonist of the film. Its no accident that the lower-class protagonists happen to have the single most common surname in South Korea. Yeon-gyo is a well-meaning mother and wife, but she's rather gullible. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Parasite by Bong Joon-ho. On his birthday, a day like today, he had snuck down to the kitchen to eat his birthday cake, but Moon-kwangs husband had snuck up the basement stairs and made eye contact with Da-song. It is somehow, and Im still not even really sure how, both joyous and depressing at the same time. Lets shift gears from a Parasite summary to a Parasite movie analysis. At the start of the film, we are introduced to the Kims, a family struggling to live under impoverished conditions. She leaves her panties behind in the Parks car as shes being driven home by their original chauffeur, causing Mr and Mrs Park to fire him on the assumption that he had been doing the deed in their car. 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